Events Calendar

WORLD Series - The Constitutional Right to a Lawyer and the Need for Systemic Reform

The Constitutional right to counsel should be treated as the crown jewel in the Bill of Rights. Without that right, realized, and without it being truly meaningful and respected, other rights – freedom of speech, the right to be free from illegal search and seizure, the ability to not incriminate oneself, the right to a fair trial and to a jury of one’s peers, and to be free of cruel and unusual punishment – have little or no meaning. In the absence of skilled counsel, due process and equal protection are mere words. And, a lukewarm lawyer is just another oppressor.

The Constitutional Right to a Lawyer and the Need for Systemic Reform with Jonathan Gradess

New York State, 51 years after the US Supreme Court decided Gideon v Wainwright [States are obliged to provide counsel for poor people in criminal cases who cannot afford lawyers ], has a deeply flawed, financially starved, broken public defense system. It doesn’t have to be this way, and Mr. Gradess will talk about why.